Jim Davis - Respect +1

I mentioned Garfield Minus Garfield a few months back. The guy who runs the site, Dan Walsh, has taken Jim Davis's Garfield comic strip and attempted to give us an idea of what the strip would look like if Garfield was removed from the strip.

As you browse the strips, you get a different look at Garfield's "owner," Jon Arbuckle. You almost get the sense that Jon is an eccentric, ofttimes neurotic loner who struggles to get through each day. Several of the strips make you laugh purely at the bizarre randomness of Davis's cartoonist hero, others simply make you ask what the hell is wrong with Jon.

Either way, it's amusing as hell.

In recent news, Jim Davis has not only given Dan of Garfield Minus Garfield his blessing to continue posting the strip online, he has gone a step further and has extended a hand of friendship towards him by offering to work together in combining both the original Garfield and the altered Garfield Minus Garfield strips into one book collection. They will present both strips as a side by side comparison so you can experience the full effect.

This is awesome.

You don't see a lot of things like this in today's litigious society. You really don't.

When I first saw Garfield Minus Garfield I thought to myself that I'd better enjoy it while I could before the dreaded cease and desist letter laid the legal smackdown on Walsh. Especially once Fark caught a sniff of it and presented the site to millions of Internet citizens as a link on the front page.

In my opinion, Jim Davis showed a lot of class here. Walsh wasn't out to destroy the reputation of Davis's creation, after all, just to show us a different side of it while giving full credit to the strip's creator. His intent was to provide a tribute to the festively plump feline (even though he was removing him entirely, I know...) as well as to bring new laughter to the table.

Instead, Davis looked at it and thought, "Huh. You know, this is actually kind of awesome. I should totally get in on this." It was very generous on his part and the while the offer to collaborate will indeed add more lasagna to the wallet, it also is a great step forward regarding reaching out to the public.

Try and see if Cathy or For Better or Worse's creators would ever allow anything remotely like this. Top marks, Mr. Davis, top marks.

I haven't bought a Garfield collection book since '87, but I will definitely be picking up this one when it hits the shelves.